Resisting the Urge to Freeze and Shoplifting

The day my husband’s coworker called me from the emergency room was the same day I was almost arrested for shoplifting.

Fresh off our honeymoon and plopped smack in the middle of our spacious 605 square foot apartment, my husband and I quickly embraced the Rocky Mountains as home.

After working late one night, I came home to find a partial message on our answering machine.

The message stated everything was fine…garble, garble, garble, but I needed to get to the hospital….garble, garble, garble, fast.

Panicked, alone, and without the direction of a GPS (hello, not yet invented, people), I made my way to the ER.

Tests were run. Blood was drawn. Fluid pumped, and six hours later, my husband filled out discharge papers. He had a rare virus that attacked the walls of the stomach, and I had a handful of prescriptions.

I found a twenty-four hour pharmacy. Filled the prescriptions, and left the store.

  

We are taught what to do in emergency situations. We know if grabbed in a dark parking lot in the middle of the night, we need to fight. We know if we can’t fight, we should scream. We are instructed when an emergency situation arises our instincts will kick in, but I’m here to tell you my instincts didn’t kick in or kick at all or move.

When I heard running and saw the shadow of a long arm reaching towards me, I froze. I didn’t try to run. In fact, I stopped, looked down, and braced myself.

When I think back to that night, I always wonder why a girl who considers herself a fighter, just stood. I marvel how one with so much mouth ended up with such little fight, and I admit, the whole idea of freezing reminds me of my faith.

As Christians, we prepare for emergencies. We talk about what to do when needs arise. We discuss strategies and missions, but when the shadow of a long arm reaches out, sometimes I freeze.

The man running towards me turned out to be store security. Apparently, the grocery store’s pharmacy didn’t ring up prescriptions after hours, and I was under the impression that the new insurance my husband bragged about really was good, like free (give me a break, I was twenty-three).

In the end, after an hour and a half, a heated exchange, and a discussion with the actual police, the store deemed me not the smartest girl who ever walked the aisles, but not a thief. 

What about you? Have you ever froze when you should have acted? Do you freeze when scary times arise in your faith? Oh, and have you ever been picked up at King Soopers for shoplifting? Oops, wait, that was me.

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